TELUS proudly puts the Nokia Lumia 800 as “Coming soon”

It’s actually quite shocking to see a Canadian carrier put the words “coming soon” on a new Windows Phone device. It’s very welcomed, but makes you do a double take because we’ve been stuck with the first-gen WP7 devices from the initial launch 14 months ago. Earlier this week it was announced that the Nokia Lumia 710 would be released by Rogers in February, and the Nokia Lumia 800 will be launched by TELUS. There was no indication as to when the 800 will be hitting stores, but TELUS has taken the time to tease us with anticipation by updating their website with the familiar “Coming Soon”. No word on price points either… but this is progress and it’s great to see Windows Phone handsets en route to Canada.

I really don’t see the apeal of this phone. Almost as outdated as a Blackberry.

Nick

how is it outdated?

bob

The slow, old architecture single core CPU, the slow Adreno 205 GPU, the display (low 800×480 resolution, pentile, small size), the tickness (over 12mm, some qwerty phones are thinner than that), the (lack of) front camera, the speed of the HSPA modem, the amount of RAM and its bandwidth.

Other than that, nothing is outdated. 16GB flash is OK and there is a nice 3.5mm audio jack.

Would be a nice mid-range phone if sold around $250 no contract.

Strowg9

I have to disagree to a certain extent with your comment. Although the processor itself is outdated compared to other high end smartphones, I think you have to consider this in context.

WP7.5 has more flashy animation than iOS or Android, yet it’s silky smooth on these processors–so why sacrifice battery power with unnecessary juice? The browser is also hardware accelerated, and deals with HTML5 far faster than any competing mobile OS. Blackberry is an entirely different story–not only is their hardware outdated, but their OS is even further behind.

That being said, I’ll admit I would be singing a different tune if I was interested in gaming on my phone, as I’m sure this setup wouldn’t be ideal.

As far as the rest of your comment, I have to agree–particularly with the resolution issue… I love this OS, but hardware is the sole reason I’m heading for the new Nexus. Microsoft has to be quicker to raise the ceiling on specs if they want to attract power users.

astudent

you obviously don’t understand anything about the user experience, the user experience is not a list of tech specs. Wp7 probably has the best overall user experience on a day to day basis and this is coming from a bb, android and iOS owner.

astudent

@Strowg9 great answer!!! I am happy there are a lot of people who understand the context.

bob

@Strowg9

The new mobile processors do not consume more power than the old Snapdragon in this device. For a given workload, it’s even the opposite. That’s why WP7 phones do not have good battery life.
WP7 has the slowest performance in java script, so you can’t say the browser is any optimized. You can like the design of the OS but that’s no excuse to release outdated phones. If you like WP7 imagine how it would be on a Galaxy Nexus. WP7 will probably be there in one year.

David

Not that I’d be switching from my phone anytime soon, however, hopefully coming soon isn’t such a long ‘coming soon’ like with the previous S2X. Though since Rogers’ own Nokia wp is coming out in February, I can only assume that that will be the case.

Dwayne

What’s the excitement and with Microsoft products, they are inferior to all other options. The only reason anyone would use a Microsoft product is that they have no choice.

Hugo

They have made allot of progress, window 7 is rock solid in terms of features and stability, been using windows 8 preview and its even better with hyper-v built in goodness, their server, backup, and it management tools like system center are rock solid same with office 2010, most people look like their still in the old every ms os is like vista so they suck.

Hugo

Lol BOB bait much………..windows phone does not have a nice looking flagship phone, well now this is it, i got the optimus 7 and while its a great phone it looks ugly, at least with a nokia lumia i can put it beside a iphone and feel proud it looks just as good.

bob

I hope the look of this phone will make their owners proud to show it next to an iPhone because that’s the only thing they can be proud of.

Tom

AAAAAWWWWWWW YYYYEEEEEAAAAAA!

Nick

I WANT THE 900!

robyn

Not to mention it looks like an iPod :S

len

Thank you TELUS. Now is there any way you can look into getting us the 900 or Samsung focus s?

Sub-Joker

finally a new windows phone to hit canada. I am an android owner, and i honestly don’t think to switch to WP at the moment. but I think windows phone is good for business users (yes, email integration with the phone surpasses iOS and Android). also, for those simple individuals who want an easy to use OS Windows Phone is the one to go for along with iPhone.

always good to have choices. why are you all fankids hating on Windows Phone??

Me Ted

“yes, email integration with the phone surpasses iOS and Android”
Hmmm that’s news to just about every single person on Earth. How exactly does email integration surpass that of Android or iOS?

Sub-Joker

here is how:
1- hotmail doesn’t have push email on Android
2- Some Android devices (depending on the UI) do not always support exchange (the dell streak is a good example)
3- yahoo and gmail on iOS…. we all heard how buggy it is.

that’s how.

bob

Some people still use hotmail?
Anyway doesn’t hotmail support IMAP? Android supports push IMAP.

Phuc Uranus

I would wait for the lumina 900 if you want a windows phone. But I don’t know what windows phone does that Android can’t.

Keith

Just a few things off the top of my head–WP is slick,secure rock-solid and unique and the live tiles are amazing–my phone is alive. The xbox life integration is already quite compelling but that and kinect integration is just getting started. And I would trust Microsoft (or Apple) a lot more with my personal data than Google and most importantly it is just a more pleasant user experience all around.

trolling

This phone is the best handset on the market. And it’ll stay the best handset available in Canada till Q3 2012.
Everyone hating WP7 haven’t tried it.
People talk s**t about this OS and about the devices but this is jealousy.
U mad ?

Malevolent

Nokia makes high quality hardware and now they have a much better OS so it’s nice that Telus is getting this phone. Too bad it’s not the 900 but it’s a good start and hopefully the 900 will soon follow.

truth

One of the most aesthetically pleasing devices on the market… With an OS that nobody uses. Call me a fan boy all you want (Though I actually have an old a*s crapberry), but just imagine how well this phone would sell if it was running android 4.0.

Also the 800 is aging fast, 900 has already been announced and everything…#canadafail

Still one pretty phone though.

JB

Is it just me or is Rogers sucking wind (hehe, no pun intended) when it comes to new devices? I don’t really care but come on, at least put a little effort into it…

Dalex

It’s really not a bad pickup for TELUS. Maybe it might help WP7 get some love in Canada. It’s not a bad platform. It’s amazingly fast and fluid even on these somewhat dated “specs”. Its a solid, well built phone. The screen however is way too small for me (I use the international Galaxy S2 and I find its starting to get small at 4’3 inches) and its a bit on the thick side, but its not a bad pickup for someone looking for a easy to use and very productive phone.

Someone app centric might dislike the relatively lower volume of apps available, but all the important ones are there, and the social integration is second to none. Nokia maps and drive also rival and even put to shame Google Maps on some features such as offline maps.

All in all, I love Android, but WP7 is a platform I can respect and hopefully it picks up some steam.

KC

I really enjoyed WP7 in the short span I had it (took over an LG Optimus 7, turned out to be a lemon, now languishing on a Milestone waiting for the contract to expire in a couple months).

I really wish they’ll set a lower price point for this phone: hardware-wise, it’s not at the same level as something like the Galaxy Nexus or HTC Amaze (higher end dual-core Telus phones in near future), but truth is that MS has actually made the OS work well with less. A <$400 no-contract price would really shake things up and get a lot of traction.

It'd also be a pipe dream, which really pisses me off.

Zia

Why everyone first clarifies that they will not leave android before pointing towards good points in other platforms.

Yaguang

Anyone knows if this phone is penta-band?

Hugo

Yes it is pentaband

Jak

really cool how they’ll have all the colours available for everyone.

Jesse

Awesome! I’ll be looking to upgrade as soon as it’s released.

Jeff

Wrong! its not a pentaband.

Im all over this as long as nokia releases “network setup” app. If you plan on using it on the telus network you will not need this, but if your like me and want to buy it and use it on rogers, you will not be able to configure the mms settings witout that app.

other than that, once windows phone gets more apps, i can easily see it gain a rediculess portion of the phone market

freestaterocker

WP7 has native network setup. I have a friend using an original Samsung Focus (Rogers exclusive) on the Sasktel/Bell network. He bought it outright from Rogers, unlocked it, and configured it within the native settings. In case you’re wondering why he wouldn’t just use it on Rogers, 2 reasons: Rogers has terrible coverage in Saskatchewan; and he’s a Sasktel employee. Go ahead and buy any unlocked WP you want. As long as it has the right bands you shouldn’t have a problem.

freestaterocker

I’m holding out hope the 900 will come to Bell… I have an HD7 and 4.3″ is screen-size perfection for my hands, and the lack of ffc make the 800 not an “upgrade” for me. Still, a sexy device. Having tasted WP7 goodness, I could never slum on Android or IOS. The user experience is just too amazing.

James

If ou sort by price low to high on their website , the nokia lumia 800 is between the galaxy fascinate (0.00$ – 2 years) and the sony xperia ray (29.99$ on 3 years). Is this a hint about it’s price?